PRECIOUS-Gold steady as dollar gains versus euro on ECB policy

Reuters Staff

3 Min Read

Oct 27 (Reuters) - Gold was little changed on Friday, after
dipping to a three-week low as the dollar gained against the
euro after the European Central Bank extended its bond buying
programme.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Spot gold was roughly unchanged at $1,266.10 per
ounce as of 0115 GMT. It hit its lowest since Oct. 6 at $1265.08
an ounce in early trading.
* U.S. gold futures for December delivery fell 0.2
percent to $1,267.50 per ounce.
* The dollar stood tall on Friday, on track for weekly
gains, while the euro slumped to three-month lows after the
European Central Bank extended its bond purchases and reduced
the chances that it would hike interest rates in 2018.
* The ECB extended its bond purchases at a reduced pace on
Thursday, taking its biggest step yet in weaning the euro zone
economy off protracted stimulus. The ECB said it would cut asset
purchases to 30 billion euro from 60 billion euros starting
January while also extending the scheme by 9 months to
September.
* Asian shares gained on Friday as technology shares were
boosted by upbeat earnings from U.S. hi-tech giants, while the
euro hovered near three-month low against the dollar after the
European Central Bank extended its stimulus.
* The U.S. House of Representatives helped pave the way on
Thursday for deep tax cuts sought by President Donald Trump and
Republican leaders, but barely overcame a revolt within party
ranks that could foreshadow trouble ahead.
* President Donald Trump's search for the next chair of the
U.S. Federal Reserve has come down to Fed Governor Jerome Powell
and Stanford University economist John Taylor, Politico on
Thursday cited one source as saying, while another counselled
caution.
* Gold is likely to flatline for another year in 2018 as
rising U.S. interest rates clip momentum, a Reuters poll showed
on Thursday, while silver forecasts were cut again after the
metal lagged forecasts in the third quarter.
* Autocatalyst metal palladium will struggle to maintain its
recent push to 16-year highs above $1,000 an ounce, but is still
expected to set record average highs this year and next as
emissions controls ramp up, a Reuters poll showed.
* China's net gold imports via main conduit Hong Kong
slipped about 8.5 percent month-on-month in September to the
lowest level in over three years amid a slowdown in overall
demand, data showed on Thursday.
(Reporting by Arpan Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonali
Paul)